a small storm
by ItsRainingAgain
Summary: No I'm not. Why the hell did you come here?"a good spar of words with Naruto always made him feel a bit better since the dobe kept stumbling over his own words.


He hadn't always been this weak. He hadn't always craved so much for this, and never before had he been willing to give away his pride for something so ridiculously shameful. It wasn't like all those other things that he fought for. _Power_. He wanted it so much that every fiber of his body trembled at the thought of none. But he would never go to the extents as to this very thing. _Respect._ Something he already had from many, but missed from the equal amount. He could live without that. If he could just have this one thing, this feeling that he craved with his entire being, he'd throw power and respect and whatnot out the window.

Love. A fragile, stupid, thing at first thought. Then again, at the prospects of it coming from that one person, his palms would tickle, his chest would swell, and the words would get stuck in his throat. He couldn't lie to himself. He never did. That however wouldn't restrain him from viciously suppress his feelings to the point that he nearly choked on them.

He hadn't always been screaming with his heart for Naruto. Sure, yelling was easily done, and prosecuted many times it had been too, there was nothing wrong with his vocal chords. But never this way. It was embarrassing, the way he made a fool of himself, even if it was in front of nobody. Because he would never tell anyone. It was just impossible, a man of his caliber, bulletproof, suddenly vulnerable because of Konoha's number one surprising ninja. No, he wouldn't have it.

Uchiha Sasuke, the most stoic ninja inside Konoha, with an overdose of Pride shot up in his veins from his very birth, opened the door to the house he had involuntarily inherited from his parents. Sighing, he closed it behind him, crashed his back against it before he slid down to the floor, shaking in anger. He grimly punched his fist against the floor, bit his lip hard, counted until the numbers got mixed up with each other and breathed out. And breathed in again. And again. He was calm, calm calm calm calm. So he went into the kitchen, dropping his chuunin vest on a chair as he went. He made a cup of tea, and as he sat in the sparsely lit kitchen, he noticed the rain had started falling outside the dark windows.

A feeling of cold seeped in between the cracks in his confidence. _Please rain, stay the way you are now. Don't become a fucking storm, I don't have time or strength for it right now. Stupid weather._ Sasuke always felt highly uncomfortable during storms. It was bewildering, the way he, a strong ninja of Konoha, would be reduced to a heap of crying and shaking limbs beneath his blanket every time there was a storm. Like a little kid. You'd think he'd get used to them, but no. He put the unfinished teacup in the sink and went to have a shower and then, hopefully, get a good night's sleep. So, there.

Who was he kidding? Since he crawled beneath the blanket the storm had only gotten worse and worse. Damn, he hated autumn!  
His whole body jerked as a huge lightening struck far away in the distance, creating a loud cracking sound. Shivering, he pulled the blanket over his head, willing himself not to be afraid. _It's just a storm, a stupid thing to be afraid of. Which I am not. Notnotnotnotnotno- _"Oh god, please someone make it sto-ho-ho-hop..." Sasuke drew his body to a small ball of cramps, crying and cursing because of his weakness. He was gripping his sheets so hard that his knuckles were white. But in the middle of a storm, in the middle of the night, who would ever hear him? That's right, no one.

Shaking, Sasuke put his pillow over his head, pressed it down hard and tried to go to sleep anyway. He couldn't. He desperately rolled around in bed for a time, then went to have a shower. If that couldn't drench the sounds from outside, then maybe him and he'd stop being afraid.

The hallway was dark and raw from the cold rain that beat furiously against the pane of an open window. The curtains were flapping, and at the first sign of them Sasuke jerked, but then smacked his inner self for being such a pussy. Forcing the window shut against the hard wind and rain he got tangled up in the curtains, cursed his life and then proceeded to trip over himself.

"_Smooth_."

He got up, and tried to ignore the whistling and shrieking and banging sounds from the storm as he headed for the bathroom. Wait what? Banging? As in knocking? He stopped for a moment and yes, he realized, some dickhead was actually trying to knock down his door in the cold night. Bewildered, a bit angry and somehow immensely relieved, Sasuke hurried to open the door.

Thick blond strands of hair were plastered onto the forehead protector and cheeks of Uzumaki Naruto. Figured. His clothes were drenched as well, and the boy was shivering from the cold. There was a huge nasty grin smeared on his face. Sasuke was taken aback, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. Then he stepped aside silently and let the grinning boy in. "You do realize what time it is, Dobe?" always keeping his composure of cold Stoicism.

Naruto had begun to violently force his wet jumpsuit jacket off his upper body. He stopped only to look at Sasuke with a serious face, arms in an awkward - locked - position. "Why, it's the time when I come to your rescue, scaredy cat" then he smirked again and resumed his fight with the jacket. Sasuke stood dumbstruck. Had he heard? Did he know what a coward he was now? Afraid of a little rain, some wind and... and stuff. He wanted badly to ask, but if he hadn't, then how would he explain himself? Sasuke tried to keep playing on the cool side. As usual. "I mean It usuratonkachi... why the hell are you banging on my door when I'm trying to sleep?"

Naruto's answer was relieving. "...I've lost my keys. And locked myself out. Are you happy now, Teme?"

"No I'm not. Why the hell did you come here?" Sasuke was at ease, he still wasn't a coward to Naruto, and right now, he was the strong one, the savior. And a good spar of words with Naruto always made him feel a bit better since the dobe kept stumbling over his own words.

"Don't be so fucking rude. Because you're my team mate, so I thought, yeah, maybe Sasuke'll be kind enough to let me stay – Sakura would only hit me over the head and call me a pervert!"

He had no answer to that, it was correct. So he chose to shut his mouth. Instead, he was beginning to worry about where he should put Naruto for the night. He couldn't leave him in the living room, it was always cold at night. Most of the other rooms contained things that he didn't want to leave Naruto alone with. Expensive things, weapons and the kitchen, in which all his food was. And frankly, now that he had someone here to take the frightening feelings away, he wanted him as close as possible.

Naruto seemed to have noticed Sasuke's problem as he asked, "So, where can I sleep? Anywhere is fine really, I'm just glad I'm not wet, haha..." That was one of the things Sasuke liked about Naruto. He was so straight forward and honest. He'd never tell a lie and he'd never force someone into something. Oh well there was that time he'd talked Kiba into eating a jar of pickles that'd turned bad weeks before... and there was that incident with Shino's shampoo which he'd rather not think about right now.

Deciding that the only option left was his own room he said, "you can sleep on the floor in my room, if that's okay with you? I have an extra mattress." then, there was the second thing Sasuke liked about Naruto. His dazzling smile. The way his eyes lit up and his nose scrunched up a bit and how his teeth showed between his pink lips. He turned away and entered his room, Naruto following suit. "Man... I don't wanna sound weird, but you sure sleep strange." Naruto was right. And Sasuke only just realized why. All his blankets, pillows and sheets were at the top of his bed, in a messed heap. Apparently, he had tried to muffle the sounds of the raging storm with anything he could find. A loud crash outside reminded him that it was still night, and still stormy. But now he had company. He tried not to wince at the sounds as he began rummaging around in his closet for the mattress, a little bit too loud and jerky.

It wasn't there.

He went around the rest of the house trying to find it, but it had vanished. Then he realized – he had lent it to Kakashi for some reason, but never got it back. Cursing his old sensei, he tried to explain to Naruto.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'll just bunk with you then?" he said, smiling as if he didn't mind sharing a bed at all. Sasuke didn't have the courage to say no, nor the impoliteness. Since Naruto's clothes had been wet, Sasuke lent him a bottom pair of a pajamas and a t-shirt. Silent as ever, they made the bed, and crawled in it. Being tense and a bit uncomfortable made the sounds from outside even louder. The pressing silence was almost unbearable, or at least it was to Sasuke. He had thought that with Naruto around, and so close, he would be calm. But he only became self conscious, tense and worried about what he might do when he fell asleep. What if he talked in his sleep? He couldn't control something like that. One time he had woken up from hearing his own voice saying Naruto's name. He was afraid to fall asleep. And afraid to stay awake. The rain was mercilessly hammering on his windowpane and his roof, the wind was whistling and the lightening struck over and over, rumbling loud in his head. He felt like crying. It was such a hopeless situation.

Sasuke might not have realized it, and he would never admit it to himself, but his mind was fragile. Sure, it might be hard as steel at some times, but it was fragile, like an egg. You could hold a firm grip around it and squeeze with all your might and it wouldn't break. But press one point on it and it would crackle up for even a teaspoon's force.

Then out of the blue came Naruto's voice. "Hey Sasuke... you asleep?"

"No."

"why not?"

"I don't know, why aren't _you_ asleep Dobe?"

"...because I feel weird with your feet in my face, Teme!" Sasuke hadn't realized that he'd actually kicked Naruto in the face. So maybe he wasn't good at hiding his wincing. His whole body tensed up, and his heart began racing as he heard and felt how Naruto rumbled around, slammed his pillow down beside Sasuke's head, and plunged himself beside Sasuke's body shortly after. He could hear the whisker-marked boy chuckle. It was quiet for a while, and Sasuke feared he'd go back to the state of panic he'd had earlier, when Naruto spoke again.

"So, spill it pretty boy. What is it that makes you so scared that even I can sense it?"

"I'm not scared dobe."

"Is it the storm?"

"I said I'm not scared, now sleep!"

"or the dark? 'cause that would be very unlike you Sasuke" Naruto chuckled, no, _giggled_ as he continued, "or is it me that you're scared of, pretty boy?" Sasuke was not intending to admit his fear of the storm outside, nor his nervousness about the blond.

"Geez, I told you I'm not scared, you dimwit!" Then he felt a hand on his back, and fingers scratching lightly on top of his t-shirt. A warm breath tickled his neck, and Naruto's voice, considerably more serious, whispered,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't pick on you. But you don't have to be afraid Sasuke. You never should."

Sasuke felt himself go red as he whipped around in bed and said,  
"I said I'm not, and I will never be scared usura...ton...ka..." Sasuke realized suddenly how close he was to Naruto. He could see his eyelashes, the faint freckles, and when he looked down he saw his full lips, parted so that his white teeth showed slightly.

"...chi."

That was when Naruto kissed him. And that was when his heart stopped, only to start pounding on his ribs a second after. Naruto's hand was still on his back, and it was gently touching his hair and lithe skin.

Their lips parted, Sasuke's heart was having a race with itself and the rest of him was lost for words. Naruto, for the first time in his life, seemed to be as well.

Time and air was thick with thoughts, feelings exploding between their faces. Sasuke couldn't let himself blink in the intense gaze of Naruto. His world was turned upside down, shaken, broken and built up in an entirely different way, and before he knew it, he had let slip on his secret. All it took was the slight change in Naruto's eyes, the fraction of a whisper of a change in his face. All it took was one intense thought and he'd spoken the words with merely a breath.

"I want you."

it was quiet, roaring, terrified and demanding at the same time. Naruto inhaled. Then exhaled. Then inched closer again, never breaking eye-contact. Slowly, agonizingly, painfully he brought his face closer to Sasuke's, then hesitated. Something flickered across his face, and he inhaled deeply before closing his face, raising his head and getting up on the cold wooden floor. His feet made almost no sound as he walked across the room to the big window.

Sasuke closed his eyes, feeling the emptiness above him, the cool air against his frame and face. The rain was still beating against the window, and he felt as if it was beating against his heart. Minutes passed. What happened? Was it something in his face? Was it what he'd said?

Naruto's body was outlined by the dark night that somehow shone through the window. Sasuke lay still like an unconscious man, only with his head turned towards the subject of his aches and desires, eyes open. Naruto slowly turned around, regarding him. Sasuke didn't move a muscle as their eyes connected for minutes on end. Suddenly the storm was not bothering him. It was there, but it didn't mean anything, for his full concentration was on this one boy across the room.

"Naruto.." the whisper was broken, and Sasuke wasn't even sure that Naruto had heard it.

"I need you."

Naruto's face was emotion, it breathed all kinds of thoughts that Sasuke couldn't decide what they meant. It was as if a silent agreement had Naruto over by the bed at the same time Sasuke sat up, and the blond boy's fingers were around Sasuke's white neck as Sasuke buried his face in Naruto's chest. He inhaled the scent of grass and mud and old rain and the promises of a lifetime, and he knew that he could never be satisfied with anything else.

Backing up on the bed, he pulled Naruto's hand, but he didn't need to. The light boy followed him, crawling on top of him and lowering his head to kiss Sasuke again. His tongue was a drug the moment it entered Sasuke's mouth, and he wished that his hands had the memories of a goldfish so he could explore and discover him again and again.

And the storm continued.


End file.
